When the Russian men’s and women’s basketball teams line up for the Olympic opening ceremonies in China, there might be some BYU-Colorado State chatter between two Americans under the Russian banner.

For all the fuss over ex-CSU All-America guard Becky Hammon joining the Russian Olympic team, there’s a chance for a Mountain West comrade in former BYU men’s standout Travis Hansen.

The ex-Cougar, like Hammon, plays for a Russian pro team and has been granted Russian citizenship, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Hansen, a sharp shooting wing on the 2003 All-MWC first team, takes his Russian connection a step further than Hammon. He runs a summer basketball camp in Utah to benefit children in Russian orphanages. He’s a Utah native who spent one year in the NBA before heading overseas. Hansen hasn’t locked a spot of the Russian team, competing with another American for the one position available to a naturalized citizen.

Hammon won’t be the first former CSU player to compete for another country’s Olympic basketball team. Ex-Ram guard David Turcotte is a two-time Canadian Olympian. He topped his CSU career highlight of the 1988 NIT semifinals by playing on the same floor against the Dream Team in 1992. He got Michael Jordan’s autograph for his efforts.

The Hansen tip arrived Monday from MWC associate commissioner for communications Javan Hedlund as proof he made it to work. Instead of visiting CSU in his usual business suit last weekend, Hedlund joined the Lycra invasion for the MS 150 bike ride. He said he developed new appreciation for CSU’s air conditioned dorms.

One more ex-CSU basketball tie: Former women’s coach Jen Warden is moving to Oklahoma to run hoop clinics for youngsters.